Mission accomplished
Construction on new Adrian school is nearly complete
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Saturday, March 15, 2008 10:24 PM PDT
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| Finishing touches are going up on the exterior, and sidewalks are beginning to be poured at the new Adrian Elementary School. |
ADRIAN - How the move will take place has not been announced, but Adrian Elementary School officials and staff will have all summer to make the transition into their new building, now nearly complete.
“We’re headed toward the end,” Adrian Elementary School Principal Bill Ellsworth said.
If everything continues on schedule, the school district will take possession of its new building this spring, he said. Voters approved a $3.785 million bond levy to pay for construction of the new facility and associated costs. The construction bid came in at $3.374 million. The main contractor is Mid-Valley Construction.
“Painting is almost done on the inside,” Ellsworth said.
The cabinets are installed and crews are starting on the floors, he said. The exterior stucco installed on the outside walls is already tinted, he said, but cement blocks still have to be painted. Friday crews were still putting in some of the wiring for the computer systems, plus some of the heating and air conditioning units. Some of the units were already operating.
There will be six classrooms for grades kindergarten through fifth-grade and four rooms for sixth-through-eighth-grade, a new library, computer lab, special education room, migrant education/English as Second Language classroom, teachers’ room and administrative offices. The computer lab and a science lab will also be used by high school students, Ellsworth said.
“We’re keeping the old cafeteria,” Ellsworth said, adding that demolition of the old building is still to be discussed. The old structure dates back to the late 1940s and the early 1950s. The new building will have less space than the old one, but more efficient space, he said, and is wired for the latest technology.
“We won’t have breakers going off,” he said. “It’s one level. We won’t have all the stairwells. It will be more energy efficient. It will have air conditioning.”
Lights will be controlled by sensors, Ellsworth said, so there will not be any left on when the building is empty.
The timing of the move from the old building to the new has not been set, but Ellsworth said the new building will be ready and occupied when school picks up again next fall.
